Machine for stacking and bundling flat articles

ABSTRACT

A machine for stacking and bundling flat articles. An upright stack of articles is formed on an elevator arm with the articles extending horizontally. A horizontal compressor foot is lowered to compress the stack. The stack is pushed into a generally Ushaped basket having open ends and parallel spaced sides. The basket is swung to a lay-over position in which the sides of the basket are upright to swing the stack to a position in which articles in the stack are upright. A basket clearing pusher assembly discharges the stack from the basket.

United States Patent 1 Stapp et al.

[451 Sept. 3, 1974 MACHINE FOR STACKING AND BUNDLING FLAT ARTICLES inventors: Willis .1. Stapp; Norman P. Crowe;

Edwin A. Molitor, all of Miami Twsp., Clermont Cty., Ohio Multifold International, llnc., Milford, Ohio Filed: Dec. 26, 1972 Appl. No.: 318,189

Assignee:

US. Cl. 93/93 C, 93/93 R, 214/6 C Int. Cl B65h 33/12 Field of Search... 93/93 C, 93 DP, 93 M, 93 R,

93/93 HT; 214/6 C, 6 H

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1958 Howdle et al. 93/93 DP 5/1961 Wilson et al. 214/6 C Lloyd 93/93 C Lloyd et al 53/243 X Primary Examiner-Roy Lake Assistant Examiner-James F. Coan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-James W. Pearce; Roy F. Schaeperklaus [5 7 ABSTRACT A machine for stacking and bundling flat articles. An upright stack of articles is formed on an elevator arm with the articles extending horizontally. A horizontal compressor foot is lowered to compress the stack. The stack is pushed into a generally U-shaped basket having open ends and parallel spaced sides. The basket is swung to a lay-over position in which the sides of the basket are upright to swing the stack to a position in which articles in the stack are upright. A basket clearing pusher assembly discharges the stack from the basket.

14 Claims, 49 Drawing Figures PAIENIEDSEP 3 3.832.938

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1. A machine for stacking and bundling flat articles which comprises a horizontal stack receiving arm, means for forming a compressible upright stack of articles on the stack receiving arm with the articles extending horizontally, a horizontal presser foot, means for lowering the presser foot over the stack to compress the stack, a generally U-shaped basket having parallel spaced sides, means for mounting the basket for swinging between an upright position in which the sides are horizontal and substantially aligned with the stack receiving arm and the presser foot in stack compressed position and a lay-over position in which the sides of the basket are upright, means for pushing the stack from between the presser foot and the stack receiving arm into the basket when the basket is in upright position with ends of the stack bearing on the sides of the basket and the stack being compressed between the sides of the basket, and means for swinging the basket to lay-over position when the stack has been received therein to turn the stack to a position in which the artiCles in the stack are upright.
 2. A machine as in claim 1 wherein the means for forming a stack of articles on the stack receiving arm includes an elevator, the elevator including spaced plates for supporting edges of articles, the plates being on opposite sides of the stack receiving arm, means for advancing the articles to a position overlying the plates of the elevator and the stack receiving arm, means for moving the elevator between a raised position at which a stack starts to form and a lowered position, the elevator moving means lowering the elevator to the lowered position as the articles build up thereon, means for moving the stack receiving arm between a raised position at which the stack receiving arm is adjacent the plates of the elevator and a lowered position at which the stack is held when being compressed, means for withdrawing the plates of the elevator from below the articles when the elevator is at its lower position and the stack receiving arm is at its raised position, means for lowering the stack receiving arm as the stack builds up thereon until a stack of desired height has been formed on the stack receiving arm whereupon the presser foot is lowered to compress the stack, means for raising the elevator to raised position when the stack is compressed, and means for stopping advance of articles while the presser foot is being lowered, the advance of articles being resumed when the presser foot has been lowered to advance articles for another stack to the elevator while the first stack is being pushed into the basket.
 3. A machine as in claim 1 wherein the means for forming an upright stack of articles on the stack receiving arm includes means for counting the articles as the articles are delivered to the stack and means for lowering the presser foot when a predetermined number of articles has been accumulated on the stack.
 4. A machine as in claim 1 wherein the means for forming an upright stack of articles on the stack receiving arm includes means for measuring the height of the stack and means for lowering the presser foot when a stack of a predetermined height has been accumulated on the stack receiving arm.
 5. A machine as in claim 1 wherein ends of the basket are open and there is a basket clearing pusher assembly and means for advancing the basket clearing pusher assembly crosswise of the basket at lay-over position to discharge the stack from the basket through one of the open ends in a direction lengthwise of the articles.
 6. A machine for stacking and bundling flat articles which comprises a horizontal stack receiving arm, means for forming a compressible upright stack of articles on the stack receiving arm with the articles extending horizontally, a horizontal presser foot, means for lowering the presser foot over the stack to compress the stack, a generally U-shaped basket having parallel spaced sides and open ends, means for mounting the basket for swinging between an upright position in which the sides are horizontal and substantially aligned with the stack receiving arm and the presser foot in stack compressed position and a lay-over position in which the sides of the basket are upright, means for pushing the stack from between the presser foot and the stack receiving arm into the basket when the basket is in upright position, and means for swinging the basket to lay-over position when the stack has been received therein to turn the stack to a position in which the articles in the stack are upright, a basket clearing pusher assembly, means for advancing the basket clearing pusher assembly crosswise of the basket at lay-over position to discharge the stack from the basket through one of the open ends in a direction lengthwise of the articles, and track means on the sides of the basket, the basket clearing pusher assembly including a pusher member which passes through the basket as the basket clearing pusher assembly is advanced, the pusher member including guide means for riding on the track means to support the pusher membEr as the pusher member advances through the basket.
 7. A machine as in claim 6 wherein there is second track means mounted on the machine and the guide means rides on the second track means when the basket clearing pusher assembly is in a retracted position clear of the basket.
 8. A machine for stacking and bundling flat articles which comprises a horizontal stack receiving arm, means for forming a compressible upright stack of articles on the stack receiving arm with the articles extending horizontally, a horizontal presser foot, means for lowering the presser foot over the stack to compress the stack, a generally U-shaped basket having parallel spaced sides and open ends, means for mounting the basket for swinging between an upright position in which the sides are horizontal and substantially aligned with the stack receiving arm and the presser foot in stack compressed position and a lay-over position in which the sides of the basket are upright, means for pushing the stack from between the presser foot and the stack receiving arm into the basket when the basket is in upright position, and means for swinging the basket to lay-over position when the stack has been received therein to turn the stack to a position in which the articles in the stack are upright, a basket clearing pusher assembly, means for advancing the basket clearing pusher assembly crosswise of the basket at lay-over position to discharge the stack from the basket through one of the open ends in a direction lengthwise of the articles, and spaced fences mounted on the machine opposite the lay-over position of the basket, the fences being substantially algined with the sides of the basket in lay-over position, the fences receiving the stack therebetween when the stack is discharged from the basket.
 9. A machine as in claim 6 wherein there are spaced fences mounted on the machine opposite the lay-over position of the basket, the fences being substantially aligned with the sides of the basket in lay-over position, the fences receiving the stack therebetween when the stack is discharged from the basket, and the fences are provided with rail means engageable by the guide means for supporting the pusher member in extended position.
 10. A machine as in claim 1 wherein the means for lowering the presser foot over the stack includes means for withdrawing the presser foot from above the stack as the stack accumulates and for advancing the presser foot to a position overlying the stack when advance of articles to the stack is stopped, and means for lowering the presser foot from the position overlying the stack to compress the stack.
 11. A machine as in claim 1 wherein the means for forming a stack of articles on the stack receiving arm includes means for delivering articles onto a stack on the stack receiving arm, means for measuring the height of the upper level of the stack, means for lowering the stack receiving arm as the stack builds up to maintain the upper level of the stack at a predetermined height, means for stopping advance of articles onto the stack when the stack has reached a predetermined height, and means for lowering the stack receiving arm to a position substantially aligned with the lower one of the sides of the basket in upright position before the presser foot is lowered.
 12. A machine as in claim 1 wherein the means for forming a stack of articles on the stack receiving arm includes means for delivering articles onto a stack on the stack receiving arm, means for measuring the height of the upper level of the stack, means for lowering the stack receiving arm as the stack builds up to maintain the upper level of the stack at a predetermined height, means for stopping advance of articles onto the stack when the number of articles in the stack has reached a predetermined number, and means for lowering the stack receiving arm to a position substnatially aligned with the lower one of the sides of the basket in upright position before the presser foot is lowered.
 13. In a Machine for bundling a stack of articles, the combination of means for compressing the stack in upright position between parallel compressor members, a generally U-shaped basket having open ends and parallel spaced sides, means for mounting the basket for swinging between an upright position in which the sides are substantially aligned with the compressor members in stack compressed position and a lay-over position in which the sides of the basket are upright, means for pushing the stack from between the compressor members into the basket when the basket is in upright position with ends of the stack bearing on the sides of the basket and the stack being compressed between the sides of the basket, means for swinging the basket to lay-over position when the stack has been received therein, a basket clearing pusher assembly, and means for advancing the basket clearing pusher assembly crosswise of the basket at lay-over position to discharge the stack from the basket through one of the open ends, there being track means on the sides of the basket and guide means on the pusher assembly for riding on the track means as the pusher assembly advances through the basket.
 14. A machine for stacking and bundling flat articles which comprises a horizontal stack receiving arm, means for forming a compressible upright stack of articles on the stack receiving arm with the articles extending horizontally, a horizontal presser foot, means for lowering the presser foot over the stack to compress the stack, a generally U-shaped basket having parallel spaced sides, the basket being mounted for swinging between an upright position in which the sides are horizontal and substantially aligned with the stack receiving arm and the presser foot in stack compressed position and a lay-over position, means for pushing the stack from between the presser foot and the stack receiving arm into the basket when the basket is in upright position with ends of the stack bearing on the sides of the basket and the stack being compressed between the sides of the basket, and means for swinging the basket to lay-over position when the stack has been received therein. 